I was disappointed by this one, I don’t think through any fault of the book. I was really looking forward to it because of the premise, but it wasn’t really to my tastes, though I think what the author did with it was interesting. It just didn’t resonate with me.
So what we’ve got here is two exes both running for homecoming king. Jeremy is trans (and newly out) and a cheerleader, and Lukas is the boyfriend dumped over the summer. They used to be the school’s power couple and now they barely speak to each other. Lukas has no idea why Jeremy dumped him, and Jeremy has issues with masculine insecurity that he tries to exorcize by being the most obnoxious person in any room. I thought Lukas was sweet for most of the book, but Jeremy can be a real asshole, and is very emotionally immature and self-absorbed. They’re both pretty typical teenagers. When they both decide to run for homecoming, all this clashes, and escalates.
What Ellor was trying to do with this book, and honestly, I think they succeeded, is tell a story about how dealing with all this stuff like coming out, navigating sexual politics, the pressure to self-educate about gender and sexuality issues, what it means to be a man (especially if you are trans), all while still being a teenager and maturing as a person, is A LOT. And not every person is going to handle it perfectly, or even well. Jeremy definitely doesn’t. Even Lukas, who is a lot more emotionally mature than Jeremy, does some pretty boneheaded things here.
I’m not a fan of angsty YA fiction, or angsty stories in general, and there was a lot of angst here. I also just don’t feel super compelled by the idea of someone who is a thoughtless jerk learning not to be. I also personally don’t have a lot of patience for people who aren’t emotionally intelligent or mature, so Jeremy was particularly grating to me (SPOILERS especially when he breaks up with Lukas, getting genuinely mad at him for misgendering him before he’s even come out END SPOILERS). So while I can see what Ellor did well here, it’s not something that gels with my sensibilities.
Not unhappy I read this, but won’t be revisiting.
